[NO. 232. PARADOXURUS LEUCOTIS.]
The White-eared Musang.
NATIVE NAME.—Na-zwet-phyoo, Arakanese.
HABITAT.—Burmah and Assam.
DESCRIPTION.—Fur longish, soft, and silky; upper parts tawny; reddish-brown on back and sides; thighs, legs, throat, and belly lighter; tail long, deep chestnut brown; nose with a central white line; ears yellowish.
[NO. 233. PARADOXURUS ZEYLANICUS.]
The Golden Musang.
NATIVE NAME.—Coolla-weddah, Singhalese.
HABITAT.—Ceylon.
DESCRIPTION.—A golden-brown colour arising from the longer hairs having a bright golden tint; the shorter hairs brown, paler beneath; head and legs dark brown; muzzle and lips blackish; whiskers white or yellowish; ears small, dark brown externally, almost naked internally; tail sub-cylindrical, long; sometimes with a single pale sub-terminal band; tip rounded, paler than the body. According to Kellaart, three inconspicuous brown dorsal streaks diverging and terminating on the crupper, and some very indistinct spots seen only in some lights. Gray says these animals differ in the intensity of the colour of the fur—some are bright golden and others much more brown. The latter is P. fuscus of Kellaart.
SIZE.—Head and body, 19 inches; tail, 15 to 16 inches.
Kellaart writes of this species: "The golden paradoxure appears to be a more frugivorous animal than the palm-cat (Paradoxurus typus[17]). Their habits are alike nocturnal and arboreal. In all the individuals of the former species examined at Newera-Ellia the stomach contained Cape gooseberries (Physalis Peruviana[18]), which grow there now in great abundance; and only one had the remains of animal matter in the stomach. When young they are tolerably docile, but as they grow up their natural ferocity returns." This seems strange, as they appear to be less carnivorous than the others.